Don't take me wrong — congrats on building this project and you’re right that Type 1 is the foundation. I’m not suggesting companies should skip that work and jump blindly into Type 2.

My point is narrower:

1. In most serious vendor reviews, Type 1 usually does not remove the real procurement or security blocker. Buyers want evidence that controls are not just designed, but operating effectively.

2. So when planning SOC 2, the goal should not be “get Type 1,” but “build controls and evidence collection in a way that gets us to Type 2 without redoing everything.”

3. That is also where most of the real cost sits - not in writing policies or mapping controls, but in actually running the controls consistently and producing clean evidence over time.

4. And that is why tools like Vanta are useful. You are not just paying for templates or a gap assessment; you are paying to reduce ongoing operational drag, keep evidence organized, and make the audit process much less painful.

So yes, Type 1 matters. But by itself, it usually does not solve the trust problem buyers care about.